The present invention relates to a new and improved machine tool and more specifically to a machine tool and method of assembling the machine tool so that structural components require a minimum of machining to thereby minimize the cost of the machine tool.
A known machine tool is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,835,516 to Fullerton. The machine tool disclosed in this patent has achieved a degree of commercial success. However, the machine tool is relatively expensive to manufacture. This is because the machine tool has a relatively large number of components which are accurately formed. Thus, mounting surfaces for the various components of the machine tool of U.S. Pat. No. 3,835,516 must be accurately machined so that a spindle axis is exactly parallel to a turret axis.
The tailstock disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,796,116 is suitable for use with the aforementioned machine tool. However, the components of the tailstock must be accurately machined and rigidly supported on the base of the machine tool. The necessity of accurately machining the mounting surfaces of the tailstock tends to increase the cost of the machine tool.